1. d4 {Notes by Peter Clarke} Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5{Sometimes it is more trouble naming an opening than playingit. 'Obviously this is a Queen's Gambit Declined,' one mightsay, but so far there has been no gambit offered, let alonedeclined. And with his next move -typycal Petrosian- Whitegives the game a rather different character.} 4. Nbd2 c5 5. e3{With 5.g3 we would have had a sort of Catalan.} Nc6 6. a3 {Aharmless-looking, yet insidious little move. Whereas anexperienced master would probably have reacted at once withthe exchange of pawns, Kotkov plays right into White's hands.}Bd6 7. dxc5 {!} Bxc5 8. b4 {Petrosian's tactics havetriuphed. He has reached a Queen's Gambit Accepted with notonly the additional tempo of colours reversed but also a wholemove extra. Considering the good reputation the defence has innormal circumstances, the outlook for Black is grim.} Be79. Bb2 O-O 10. Bd3 dxc4 {Otherwise White may tighten his gripby c5, leaving Black with little or no chance ofcounterplay. With another open file, he can hope to relievehis position by exchanges.} 11. Nxc4 a6 {Black underestimatesthe attacking potential of his opponent's Bishop battery. Ifhe is to organize his defences properly, he must complete hisdevelopment as quickly as possible and without setting up moretargets. Better, therefore was 11...Bd7 to be followed by...Rc8.} 12. Qc2 {! A very fine move, suddenly bringing intosharp relief the dangers Black is exposed to. At first sightit might seem a blunder, for Black can play 12...Bxb4+ 13.axb4Nxb4 14.Bxh7+ Nxh7 15.Qc3 Nd3+ and ...Nxb2, finishing a pawnup. Only a closer examination reveals White's cunningidea-12...Bxb4+ 13.Ke2!! The Bishop would then have nothingbetter than to go back to e7, after which White could eitherrecover the pawn at once by Bxf6 and Bxh7+ or, still stronger,continue 14.Rad1 Qc7 15.Ng5 h6 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.h4 with atremendous attack. Here we can appreciate the quality ofWhite,s conception-his King is absolutely safe on e2 while hisKR takes on an aggresive role from its initial square.} h613. O-O b5 {? Now 13...Bd7 was essential. The text move leavesa gaping hole on the q side. It is true that it is not by anymeans obvious how White can exploit it; for instance, 14.Nce5Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bb7 and Black has a playable game. Petrosiansolves the problem in a most original way.} 14. Bxf6 {!} Bxf6{14...bxc4 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 simply loses a pawn, whilst 14...gxf6is positional suicide, e.g. 15.Rad1 Qe8 16.Bh7+ Kg7 17.Nd6Bxd6 18.Rxd6 Ne7 19.Be4, etc.} 15. Rad1 {Threatening adiscovery on the Queen. Attempts at flight fail as follows:(i) 15...Qc7 16.Na5, and the pin leads to gain of material;(ii) 15...Qe7 16.Nb6 etc. (iii) 15...Qe8 16.Nd6 Qd7 17.Be4!}Bd7 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Be4 {! One must admire the precision ofWhite's manouvers. Each move makes a telling blow. Black findsthat 17...Rc8 is inadequate on account of 18.Rxd7 Qxd7 19.Nb6and wether he plays 19...Qc7 20.Nxc8 Rxc8 21.Rc1 or 19...Nxb420.Nxd7 Nxc2 21.Nxf8 a piece is lost.} Nxb4 {Despair, which asusual merely hastens the end.} 18. axb4 Rc8 19. Rxd7 {!} Qxd720.Nb6 {Again White comes out a piece ahead. It is a pleasingtouch that the Knight, en prise for six moves, should have thelast word.} 1-

1. Nf3 {Notes by Peter Clarke} e6 {There are people who playthis against any opening move by White. Perhaps it is the onlyreply that unquestionably deserves such a strangedistinction.} 2. g3 f5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. c4c6 {He intens to adapt the stonewall formation and decides onthis order of moves to avoid the possibility of hisblack-squared Bishop being exchanged by b3 and Ba3 (this wayhe has ...d6 in reserve); not that there is anything really tobe feared in that.} 7. Qc2 Qe8 {The manouver ...Q-e8-g6 (orh5) is the normal method of preparing the K-side attack. Herehe starts it while waiting for White to reveal his hand more.}8. Nbd2 d5 9. Ne5 {Petrosian is employing the same strategy ashe did against Pirtskhalava-placing his Knights on d3 and f3in order to exploit the hole on e5. What is interesting isthat he has found an entirely different route for them totake.} Nbd7 10. Nd3 Ne4 11. Nf3 {White has avoided relievingBlack's game by exchanges and is now ready to begin the driveforward in the center. This is a critical moment for thesecond player, for he must seek counter-play on the K side andyet not overreach himself there; 11...Qh5 seemsnatural. Instead Bondarevsky tries to combat White's plans bystriking out first on the other wing, a policy as wrong as itis anti-thematic.} Nd6 12. b3 b5 13. c5 {!} Nf7 14. a4 {Thenew extension to the wall must fall, after which Black is leftwith a weakened and exposed Q side, not at all what he hadbargained for.} bxa4 15. Rxa4 Bf6 16. Bb2 a6 {For the one andonly time he could have played ...e5 here. Although it wouldhave greatly freed his pieces-after, for instance, 17.dxe5Nfxe5 18.Rfa1 Nxd3 19.exd3 Bxb2 20.Qxb2 Nxc5 21.Rxa7-White'stoo would have had the board opened up for them. And openpositions invariably favor the side with the initiative.}17. Nfe5 Nfxe5 18. dxe5 Be7 19. f4 Rb8 {If 19...g5 20.fxg5Bxg5 21.Bc1! Black's problem is to find a constructive planwhich does not help his opponent.} 20. Rfa1 Rb5 21. b4 {!21.Bd4 was superficially correct, but White would like to seehis Knight on d4; moreover, he wishes to preserve thepossibility of Bc1, as mentioned in the previous note.} h5{Bondarevsky has not yet had all the fight squeezed out ofhim.! He is aiming to win some space on the K side and soperhaps put White out of his methodical stride.} 22. Bc3 h423. e3 Nb8 {Unfortunately this passive step is necessary, asWhite is threatening to bring his KB to bear on the a-pawn.}24. Ne1 Rb7 {Better was the prelimanary 24...hxg3. As played,Black loses the benefit he expected from the advance of theh-pawn.} 25. gxh4 Bxh4 26. Nf3 Bd8 27. h4 {! It is clear thatBlack's last chance of doing anything active- ...g5-hasgone. The outlook is one of grim defence behind his pawnbarrier.} Qh5 28. Be1 Bd7 29. Qf2 Kf7 {? A final error,shortening the game by many moves. He had to return his Bishopto c8 to protect his a-pawn, in which event it still wouldhave required a long campaign of White to breach the defences(the g-file is the weak spot). As soon as the pawn is removed,there is nothing to hold the attacker off.} 30. Bf1 Rh831. Bxa6 Nxa6 32. Rxa6 Be7 33. Ra7 Rhb8 {He attacked the enemyh-pawn in vain and now he has had to give up. The end is notfar away.} 34. Rxb7 Rxb7 35. Nd4 Qh8 36. Qg3 Qb8 {Black wasalmost in Zugzwang; for instance, Bishop moves permit Ra8,whilst the threat of b5 continually hangs over him.} 37. h5Ra7 38. Rc1 {Avoiding a subtle trap-38.Rxa7 Qxa7 39.Qg6+ Kf840.Ne6+ Bxe6 41.Qxe6 Qa1! 42.Qc8+ Kf7 48.Qxf5+ Kg8, and Whitemust either give perpetual check or lose his Bishop.} Qg839. Qg6+ Kf8 40. b5 {This inevitable breakthrough is thestronger for being delayed. If 40...cxb5, then 41.c6 Bc 842.Nxb5 and 43.Nd6 wins.} Qf7 41. bxc6 Bc8 {Black sealed thismove and the next day, in view of the continuation 42.Qxf7+Kxf7 43.Nb5 Ra8 44.Nd6+ Kf8 45.c7, he resigned.} 1-0